


I'm Gonna Die

by tammyoreads



Series: Coldflash Craziness [1]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Barry struck by lightning, But no Flash powers, College AU, F/M, Gen, He's still cool, Len is FASCINATED, Len is also possibly in love, M/M, Sorkabeth is awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-25
Updated: 2016-03-03
Packaged: 2018-05-23 04:01:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6104194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tammyoreads/pseuds/tammyoreads
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: “My favourite college experience is when I had a 7am class and the kid next to me literally poured a monster energy drink into his coffee, said “I’m going to die” and drank the whole thing.</p><p>#pick an otp imagine them meeting like this”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I'm Gonna Die

**Author's Note:**

> This was funny to write.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: “My favourite college experience is when I had a 7am class and the kid next to me literally poured a monster energy drink into his coffee, said “I’m going to die” and drank the whole thing.
> 
> #pick an otp imagine them meeting like this”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This keeps going cos of @Sorkabeth. Also, look out for adjustments!

Len’s Theoretical Physics lecturer was insane. There was no other word to use to describe the man and as he watched the other students blearily shuffle into the hall, he could bet that they all agreed with him. Martin Stein was the kind of man that you wanted to study under- he, if impressed by you, would give amazing recommendations and it could set you up for life (and if _un_ impressed, well…good luck with that).

But no one told him it was going to take this much crazy to be his student. He was half-tempted to just get up and walk out of the class and into the arms of his student-issue bed. It didn’t matter if it made his back sore- it was a bed. Any bed would have done really.

As he struggled to unscramble his thoughts, a body suddenly dropped into the seat next to his and he turned in surprise. It was a skinny kid, a few years younger than him, younger than most of the people in the class it seemed. He had seen him a few times (of course he had. The boy was pretty and hard to miss) – but he usually sat at the front with another kid with long hair. He was usually dressed pretty smartly and Len had assumed that he was one of the snobby genius types, but now, looking at him- his hair was in disarray, his hazel eyes were bleary as he turned to focus them on Len and he was wearing a red hoodie, t-shirt that said: AC/DC with pictures of Tesla and Edison above each- he was sexy before, but now, now he was just plain adorable. Suddenly, the six am class didn’t seem so bad anymore.

‘It’s okay if I sit here right?’ asked the kid. Len nodded, watching him carefully. The kid looked like he might have said more, but his eye caught Len’s and he blushed a deep red. He turned away quickly, and Len couldn’t help but be charmed.

Then he dropped his to-go coffee mug on the desk, and reverently pulled a “Monster” energy drink from his bag. Len watched in horror as he screwed off the top of his cup, poured the contents of the can into it, looked at Len and whispered, “I’m going to die” and then downed the whole thing in a few short gulps.

Well, shit.

For most of the class, the kid alternated between listening to the lecture with glazed eyes and shooting his hand up constantly. He was like a puppy on speed- it was endearing and terrifying all at once. When the class ended, it was already light outside and thankfully, Len didn’t have any more classes left for the day. The kid, _Mr. Allen_ as Stein kept referring to him, with progressive irritation, looked like he was ready to pass out but couldn’t, as he got up, knocking his knee on the desk and swearing sharply.

‘Hey, Scarlet?’ Len says before he can stop himself. He doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing…

‘What? Me? I’m Scarlet’ says the kid, turning fast enough that he must get- he grabs his neck and groans, letting out a _fuck_ and yep- whiplash. Also, damn that groan does _things_ to Len.

‘Wanna work off all that energy?’ he asks, fully aware of the double entendre of his statement. ‘Uh, w-wait what? I uh-what?‘ stutters the kid and Len smirks, deciding to take pity on him.

‘I meant, let’s walk to the student diner to get some pancakes,’ says Len, getting up as well.

‘Oh,’ he says and for a moment, Len wonders if he misread the blush and the stuttering and he’s about to apologize-

‘Okay. That sounds good. I feel so high strung I could probably run at the speed of light if I tried right now. So, yeah that sounds good. Work off all that energy, and I’ll stop talking now,’ he says turning away with another blush but with a small smile to match this time around and Len grins wider than he ever remembers doing in his life.

‘Wonderful. Come on.’


	2. Pancake Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry shovels away a shit ton of pancakes, they get to know each other's names and it's just mindless fluffy meet-cute nonsense going around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was asked for a sequel and I like to deliver, so!

‘You know, I don’t even know your name yet,’ said the kid and Leonard tore his eyes away from the huge stack of pancakes that he had ordered. He wanted to answer the question, was glad that he was even curious enough to ask, but all that came out was, ‘Where do you put all of that?’

The other man laughed at this and Leonard leaned back, glad he wasn’t offended by the question. ‘I have a superfast metabolism and I need to eat a lot if I don’t wanna pass out.’ Leonard hummed at this, still curious, but he wasn’t looking to medically examine the cute guy from his class so he held his tongue.

‘So,’ he said after shovelling a few pancakes into his mouth, ‘I’m Barry Allen.’

‘Oh yeah, right sorry. Leonard Snart, pleasure,’ he answered, his mouth at a sedate pace but his brain in overdrive, mentally smacking himself upside the head. He really, _really_ did not want him- Barry, to think that he had no interest in him.

‘Wow- the curse of the terrible name huh? Leonard’s almost as bad as Bartholomew,’ said Barry with a chuckle. He was already done with his pancakes and Leonard could only stare. That was a really impressive skill. Leonard started wondering what else he could devour at that speed- and nope, he wasn’t going there.

‘Uh, yeah, I guess so. My sister got the luck of the draw with Lisa, but my father’s always been a dick- wouldn’t be surprised if he gave me the name to unconsciously spite me,’ muttered Leonard bitterly, tracing patterns on the table. When he looked up at Barry, the other man was looking at with searching, concerned eyes, but Leonard smiled faintly and waved off his concern.

‘So your sister- isn’t she dating Cisco Ramon?’ asked Barry and Leonard was grateful for the change of topic. ‘Yes she is. You’re friends with him right? She’s made mention of his cute brunette friend more than once. I’m guessing that’s you,’ said Leonard with a smirk on his face at the kid’s growing blush.

‘Oh, wow. Cute brunette huh? Well, I’m, uh, flattered,’ said Barry and Leonard’s grin only widened. Then Barry glanced at his watch and muttered an impressive string of curses. ‘I’m late!’ he said and grabbed his bag, tossed some bills onto the table and was out of the booth they were in before Leonard could get a word in.

Leonard’s grin fell into a pout and he sighed as he stood up at a more sedate pace- Barry hadn’t even stopped to give him his number, when the other man came rushing back into the restaurant and put a piece of paper on the table. ‘Call me,’ he said over his shoulder as he rushed out again and Leonard grin came back with full force.

‘See ya Scarlet,’ he said, watching the man leave.


	3. Lisa, The Devil. And Her Accomplice.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Questions, origin stories. Also, concern.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, many thanks to @Sorkabeth for the ideas. Should just make them co-author or something.

‘Lenny!’ yelled a familiar voice from outside his room. He groaned and lifted his head only to duck under his pillow at the faint streaks of light filtering from his dusty curtains- he really needed to clean those. Professor Stein’s class had been the only one that day and after breakfast, he had come straight to his room to crash and- he lifted his phone to check the time- it had only been a couple of hours.

He grumbled as he got up from his bed to unlock his door, knowing his sister would probably literally break it down if he didn’t. He wondered what teaching her to pick a lock was for if she could just kick a door down with her stupid boots.

‘Jerk,’ is the first word that greets him when she steps through the door. ‘Trainwreck,’ he throws back as he turns back to his bed, eyes blinking blearily. He flops onto said bed and into his pillow comes a muffled, ‘You’re the devil Lisa, you know that?’

‘I try, Len. I try,’ she says and the bed dips so he know she’s sat on it. ‘Whaddaya want?’ he mumbles, turning to face her, not caring that his many tattoos (and scars) are on display. She’s the one person he can honestly let see him this vulnerable- he’d never turn his back when anyone else was in the room. Except maybe Mick. But Mick was…Mick.

‘I _want_ ,’ she says, glee evident in her voice, ‘you to tell me what went down between you and Barry Allen this morning. Because he came into Cisco’s room babbling about “Lisa’s super-hot brother” and then promptly passed out and started snoring loud enough to wake the dead. So what’d you do? Fuck him senseless?’

Leonard rolls his eyes and fights not to splutter indignantly, eyes trained on the ceiling. ‘Shut up. The energy drink-coffee combo must’ve finally run out of his system.’ He grimaced when he remembered the kid’s face as he downed what must have been a truly disgusting drink.

‘Fucking Barry- Cisco’s told him to quit doing that. So has his doctor and yet- he’s lucky he’s so pretty or else I would deck him,’ says Lisa enough worry in her tone that he lifts his head off his pillow and eyes her instead of his boring ceiling.

‘Doctor? What’s wrong with him?’ he asks not bothering to hide the concern in _his_ tone. ‘He’s-it’s a strange-ass story,’ says Lisa, standing up, but he grabs her hand and pulls her back to the bed. ‘Nuh-uh, you woke me up and said all that stuff and now I’m curious. So, spill.’

‘Ugh, fine. It’s not a secret anyway. He was struck by lightning,’ she says, watching with an amused smile as his eyes widen in shock. ‘Yeah, I know. Was in a coma for six months and then he wakes up with those Lichtenberg figures all over his body like tattoos, superfast metabolism and he can do things faster than the average human- ‘s why he’s so smart. It was supposed to kill him apparently, but the kid’s tough as nails for all his skinny. He fought through and now needs to eat more than the average human being to survive and he needs to keep his heart rate under control, but he’s fine Lenny. This all happened when he was 15 years old. He’s pretty sure that last part’s for his benefit and he turns away as he feels her eyes on him.

He doesn’t want her to see how much he likes Barry- he doesn’t understand it himself. But Lisa’s smart, also his twin, so she figures it out pretty quickly. ‘You really like him don’t you?’ she says, shock evident in her voice. He understands- the last person he had liked like this was his pyromaniac best friend who had nearly died in a fire of his own making. After that, after the disaster that was that whole year, when Mick woke up and he began to understand that there was nothing the man loved more than fire, he’d learned to keep a cool head about love. He didn’t rush into it- in fact he went at such a glacial pace that he hadn’t had an actual relationship in years.

‘Barry’s not Mick, Lenny. Mick’s- complicated for all his simple wants and we both know that your relationship would never have lasted anyway,’ and Leonard has to growl at this because he’d fucking loved that man- who hadn’t wanted him. ‘Yes, Lenny, I said it. Because you need to hear it. Mick is too obsessed and you know it. He’s a good man and a great friend, but he will never love you the way you want him too. Barry is not Mick, Lenny. He wouldn’t pick his obsession with something else over you.’

Leonard wanted to be closed off and ask her why she even thought he cared that much about someone he was only just getting to know but all he said was, ‘How do you know that?’

‘For all you claim to be cold and uncaring, your ability to love someone burns brighter than anything I’ve ever seen before. And I know how easily you get hurt too. I also know Barry Allen. He’s the one person I can honestly say would never hurt you. So don’t screw this up.’ She gets up and he can’t say he’s reassured, but considering that all he’s thinking about is calling Barry, he thinks he’s getting there.

‘Also, it’s fucking noon Lenny. Get off your ass,’ her tone back to its usual teasing. He grabbed a pillow from his bed and threw it at her as she left but he was too late, the door already closing before it hit, then flopped back on his bed. Closing his eyes and getting some more sleep was no longer an option. He needed to call Barry.

\--

‘Yo, Cisco,’ said Barry, head lifting slightly from his pillow. ‘Yes Barry?’ asked his friend, head bent over a sketchbook in concentration- must be one of his new inventions.

‘What do you know about Lisa’s brother Leonard?’ he asked, trying to keep any note of interest out of his voice. Cisco’s spine straightened as he turned to look at Barry, glee evident on his face and Barry could only groan as his friend stalked over to him, grin growing wider with each step.

He sat up because there’s no point in lying there anyway- four hours of deep sleep was more than enough for him. ‘Why do you wanna know?’ asked Cisco, voice taking on a sing-song quality. ‘Well it’s just- he’s not- just answer the question Ramon,’ huffed Barry, folding his arms indignantly.

‘You like him,’ teased Cisco, gasping exaggeratedly and Barry rolled his eyes at his friend’s antics. Barry just wanted some damn answers to his damn-

‘Fine fine, Grumpy Cat. He’s her twin, they were mostly raised by their grandfather and he’s studying Structural Engineering. Happy?’ said Cisco, only to wipe Barry’s deepening frown off his face.

‘Huh. That’s helpful,’ said Barry, eyeing his friend, frown replaced by a smirk. ‘What do you want me to say? Not like I hang out with the guy- he’s terrifying. He _is_ gay though- he used to date Mick Rory before the idiot up and nearly got himself burned alive.’

‘Mick Rory? Football scholarship, pyromaniac Mick Rory?’ asked Barry, shock on his face. ‘Yup, same guy,’ confirmed Cisco, searching for something in Barry’s face and when he found it he actually gasped. ‘You really like this guy?’ he phrased it almost like a question.

‘Uh, I dunno- I mean, I barely know him,’ he said, hand lifting to rub at the raised scars on his neck. He was actually fascinated by the scarring that covered a third of his body- it showed how much he had survived and he was grateful that and the slight heart problem were the only real signs of his ordeal with the lightning. He couldn’t hear a lightning strike now without whimpering like a child. He shook off the thought and turned his attention back to Cisco who now had a pissed look on his face.

‘By the way, Lisa texted me about your little coffee adventure. Do you _want_ to die?’ asked Cisco. ‘How did she even know-oh,’ said Barry, feeling a little stupid for even asking. And oddly flattered that Leonard had told his sister about how they’d met.

He winced as he also thought of what that much caffeine could do to him. Caitlin- his doctor- always told him to steer clear of over-caffeinated drinks because they didn’t know if it would aggravate his heart condition or be burned out by his metabolism and she wasn’t eager to use him as a lab rat.

‘I’m fine Cisco. See, not dead,’ he said, lifting his hands- hands showing the Lichtenberg figures that also covered other parts of his body. He swiftly put them down- they would not help his argument.

‘Look, Barry, we just want you to be safe. You don’t know what it was like that night. I was there and I couldn’t do a damn thing to save you and I know what you’re gonna say,’ said Cisco, lifting a hand to stop Barry before he could say anything. ‘It wasn’t my fault, yadda yadda yadda. But you pushed me out of the way and saved my life. So, yes I feel responsible, even now. If it wasn’t for me, neither of us would even have been out there anyway. Barry, just…don’t over push your boundaries, alright?’

‘Alright Cisco,’ replied Barry guiltily, even as he remembered what he had told Leonard in class- _I’m gonna die._ He had no doubt that Lisa would tell him all about the lightning and he knew that anyone in Professor Stein’s class wasn’t stupid. He could only imagine what the other man would think when he figured out that Barry wasn’t supposed to do stupid shit like that.

Cisco sighed and then his smile came back and it was like turning on a light. ‘So- when’s the wedding?’

‘Shut up Cisco.’


End file.
